The record

Incidents: licensing and closure of outlets

Each incident is a dated action by a government, an official, a regulator, a court or a legislature that limited journalists' ability to gather or publish news.

The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.

All filters: country, dates, head of government, sort

36 incidents match this view.

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Date	Incident	Country	Tactic	Head of government	Outcome
15 December 2025	China (Hong Kong): conviction and 20-year sentence of the media owner Jimmy Lai under the National Security Law, 2025 to 2026	Hong Kong (RSF 2026 rank: 140th of 180)	Detention and violence	John Lee	Sustained (8 February 2026)
17 September 2025	United States: Federal Communications Commission chairman's remarks and the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, September 2025	United States (RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180)	Funding and ownership pressure	Donald Trump	Reversed (23 September 2025)
3 September 2025	Ethiopia arrests at least six journalists including Sheger FM staff over election-year coverage	Ethiopia (RSF 2026 rank: 148th of 180)	Detention and violence	Abiy Ahmed	Ongoing (22 September 2025)
29 January 2025	Pakistan amends cybercrime law to create new agency policing 'fake' online content	Pakistan (RSF 2026 rank: 153rd of 180)	Official labels	Shehbaz Sharif	Sustained
20 June 2024	Slovakia's parliament dissolves public broadcaster RTVS, replaces it with STVR	Slovakia (RSF 2026 rank: 37th of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Robert Fico	Sustained (1 July 2024)
4 March 2024	Milei's government shuts down Argentina's state news agency Telam	Argentina (RSF 2026 rank: 98th of 180)	Funding and ownership pressure	Javier Milei	Sustained
13 February 2023	Cambodia: Prime Minister Hun Sen orders Voice of Democracy's license revoked over one article	Cambodia (RSF 2026 rank: 151st of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Hun Sen	Sustained (13 February 2023)
5 September 2022	Russia: a Moscow court suspends Novaya Gazeta's print license	Russia (RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Vladimir Putin	Sustained (5 September 2022)
24 June 2021	China (Hong Kong): Apple Daily closes after its assets are frozen under the national security law	Hong Kong (RSF 2026 rank: 140th of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Carrie Lam	Sustained (24 June 2021)
8 March 2021	Myanmar junta revokes five outlets' licenses and raids newsrooms after coup	Myanmar (RSF 2026 rank: 166th of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Min Aung Hlaing	Sustained
14 February 2021	Hungary: Klubradio loses its terrestrial broadcast license over its tender application	Hungary (RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Viktor Orban	Upheld by a court (1 September 2021)
16 March 2018	Tanzania requires bloggers and online publishers to register and pay an annual government fee	Tanzania (RSF 2026 rank: 117th of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	John Magufuli	Unknown (12 April 2018)
4 September 2017	Cambodia's government forces the closure of The Cambodia Daily with a disputed multimillion-dollar tax bill	Cambodia (RSF 2026 rank: 151st of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Hun Sen	Sustained (4 September 2017)
27 July 2016	Turkey closes more than 100 media outlets by decree after a failed coup attempt	Türkiye (RSF 2026 rank: 163rd of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Recep Tayyip Erdoğan	Sustained (31 December 2016)
21 December 2010	Hungary's parliament gives a government-appointed media council power to fine outlets for unbalanced coverage	Hungary (RSF 2026 rank: 74th of 180)	Funding and ownership pressure	Viktor Orban	Sustained (1 January 2011)
27 May 2007	Venezuela: the government declines to renew RCTV's broadcast concession	Venezuela (RSF 2026 rank: 159th of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Hugo Chavez	Sustained (8 September 2015)
12 September 2003	Zimbabwe: police close the Daily News under the media registration law	Zimbabwe (RSF 2026 rank: 124th of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Robert Mugabe	Reversed (27 May 2010)
15 March 2002	Zimbabwe enacts a law requiring all journalists and media houses to hold government licenses	Zimbabwe (RSF 2026 rank: 124th of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Robert Mugabe	Unknown
14 April 2001	State-controlled Gazprom takes formal control of Russia's independent NTV television network	Russia (RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180)	Funding and ownership pressure	Vladimir Putin	Sustained (14 April 2001)
July 1997	Peru strips television station owner Baruch Ivcher of his citizenship after critical reporting	Peru (RSF rank: not recorded)	Funding and ownership pressure	Alberto Fujimori	Sustained
October 1988	United Kingdom bars broadcasters from airing Sinn Féin members' own voices	United Kingdom (RSF 2026 rank: 18th of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Margaret Thatcher	Reversed (16 September 1994)
1987	Malaysia: Printing Presses and Publications Act amended to bar court review of publishing permits, 1987	Malaysia (RSF 2026 rank: 95th of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Mahathir Mohamad	Sustained
31 July 1980	South Korea's martial-law government purges journalists who resisted press controls	South Korea (RSF 2026 rank: 47th of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Chun Doo-hwan	Reversed (1 June 1987)
19 October 1977	South Africa bans The World and Weekend World newspapers and detains editor Percy Qoboza	South Africa (RSF 2026 rank: 21st of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Balthazar Johannes Vorster	Sustained (1 March 1978)
26 June 1975	India imposes pre-press controls on every newspaper during the 1975 Emergency	India (RSF 2026 rank: 157th of 180)	Prior restraint	Indira Gandhi	Reversed (21 March 1977)
24 May 1960	Egypt's Nasser government nationalizes every newspaper and magazine in the country	Egypt (RSF 2026 rank: 169th of 180)	Funding and ownership pressure	Gamal Abdel Nasser	Ongoing (1 January 1989)
October 1951	Argentina: President Juan Perón's government hands the expropriated newspaper La Prensa to the CGT labor federation, October 1951	Argentina (RSF 2026 rank: 98th of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Juan Perón	Sustained (1 October 1951)
17 July 1950	South Africa's Suppression of Communism Act lets the government ban publications and restrict individuals	South Africa (RSF 2026 rank: 21st of 180)	Prior restraint	Daniel François Malan	Reversed (31 July 1991)
8 May 1941	Greece: collaborationist government creates a Directorate-General for Press and Radio to review films and publications before release	Greece (RSF rank: not recorded)	Prior restraint	Georgios Tsolakoglou	Sustained
3 September 1939	Canada: War Measures Act regulations authorize review of hundreds of newspapers and ban political organizations	Canada (RSF 2026 rank: 20th of 180)	Prior restraint	William Lyon Mackenzie King	Sustained (31 December 1945)
1939	Brazil's Vargas government creates a state messaging department with broad press powers	Brazil (RSF 2026 rank: 52nd of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Getúlio Vargas	Reversed (1 January 1945)
4 October 1933	Nazi Germany's Editors Law bars Jewish journalists, 1933	Germany (RSF 2026 rank: 14th of 180)	Credential control	Adolf Hitler	Reversed (8 May 1945)
28 February 1933	Germany: Reichstag Fire Decree suspends freedom of the press, February 1933	Germany (RSF 2026 rank: 14th of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Adolf Hitler	Sustained (1 May 1945)
1926	Dutch East Indies: Colonial authorities end publication of the communist newspaper Mawa under Penal Code Article 153 bis, 1926	Indonesia (RSF rank: not recorded)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Andries Cornelis Dirk de Graeff	Sustained (1 January 1926)
1922	Glavlit created: Soviet censorship office, 1922	Russia (RSF 2026 rank: 172nd of 180)	Prior restraint	Vladimir Lenin	Ongoing (1 January 1989)
9 March 1913	Ottoman Empire bars lawmakers and officials from editing newspapers and jails a leading editor	Türkiye (RSF 2026 rank: 163rd of 180)	Licensing and closure of outlets	Mehmed V	Sustained (9 March 1913)

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